Youth football coach facing charges for attack on rival team's coach

Lawrence Simpson, coach of the Claymont Falcons youth football team, arrives for his arraignment at Linwood District Court on Thursday morning, Oct. 17, 2013. He is facing charges of aggravated assault, simple assault and reckless endangerment after punching a Chichester Crusaders coach after their game on Saturday night. Upper Chichester police officer Michael Molineux leads him to court. (Photo by Eric Hartline/Delaware County Daily Times)

UPPER CHICHESTER — A youth football coach is behind bars, charged with attacking a rival coach after a football game on Saturday.

Lawrence Simpson, 41, of Claymont, Del., coach of the Claymont Falcons senior weight team, is being held in Delaware County prison on 10 percent of $75,000 bail. Simpson is charged with aggravated assault — a felony, simple assault and reckless endangerment.

Authorities said Simpson, who surrendered to township police Thursday morning, has an extensive arrest record in Delaware. He also has two prior criminal convictions in Delaware County — a drug conviction in 2002 and a conviction for assault and conspiracy in 1999. He was sentenced to three to nine months for the assault and 11½ to 23 months for the drug conviction.

The victim, Chichester Crusaders coach Lamar Shaw, underwent surgery on Monday and is facing additional surgery to repair a severely fractured jaw suffered Saturday night during an altercation at the Chichester Middle School football field, police said.

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According to the affidavit of probable cause for Simpson’s arrest, police were dispatched to the Chichester Middle School on Meetinghouse Road at approximately 7:07 p.m. for a report of a fight in progress. Responding officer Michael Molineux arrived to find a large crowd gathered in the parking lot and at the entry gate to the athletic field.

After dispersing the crowd, Molineux spoke with several people who witnessed the altercation between the two coaches, the affidavit states.

According to the witnesses, the argument was sparked by players having been ejected from the game. What began as a verbal disagreement escalated into a physical altercation between Shaw and Simpson, the witnesses said, according to the affidavit.

Both the victim and the suspect were not at the football field when the officer arrived.

Molineux was told that Shaw suffered an injury and was transported to Crozer-Chester Medical Center prior to the officer’s arrival. Simpson had also left the scene.

When interviewed later at the hospital, Shaw told police that after the game he was having a discussion with some of the coaches for the Claymont Falcons team. During the discussion, one of the opposing team’s coaches got within a foot of him and began acting aggressively, the affidavit states. Shaw told police he turned his head away and was suddenly struck in the jaw, causing him severe pain, the court document indicates.

Witness Wayne Heacock gave police a written statement saying that he was at the field when he was alerted by a youth football player that Shaw had been punched, the affidavit states. Heacock allegedly told police he ran over to where the fight was occurring and saw Simpson on top of Shaw, who was on the ground face down. Simpson was repeatedly punching Shaw in the back at the head, Heacock said, according to the court document.

On Monday, Detective Chris Jones interviewed Simpson about the incident. Simpson allegedly gave police a written statement admitting that he punched Shaw during the altercation. The 55-year-old Claymont resident allegedly apologized for the incident, saying he was sorry it happened.

The Claymont Falcons posted an urgent message on their website to address the incident. In the message, an official noted that a substantial fine has been levied against the organization in connection with the incident at Chichester Middle School.

The notice also states that two unnamed Claymont Falcon senior assistant coaches have been permanently suspended from their coaching duties.

“While these penalties may seem extreme, there are in line with the bylaws of the Delco League,” wrote Oliver Childs, an official with the organization.

“… We now need to move forward and put this unfortunate event behind us. We need to focus on making this Homecoming Weekend special for our players and cheerleaders. We have two weeks left in the season and want to finish on a positive note. Remember, the goal is still to provide a fun environment and experience for our children.”

According to the Chichester Crusaders website, the team will have buckets at the snack bar during the remaining games for donations to assist Shaw and his family.

Simpson has a preliminary hearing tentatively scheduled for Oct. 22 in Linwood District Court.